SORSOGON, August 9, 2022 – Ninety-four poultry raisers from 481 members of 18 farmers associations (FAs) in various municipalities in Sorsogon received Poultry Production and Product Development Training initiated by the Department of Agriculture – Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD) Program providing necessary knowledge, skills on basic poultry management and practices, food processing, product packaging, labelling and costing.

Hailing from the municipalities of Juban, Magallanes, Pilar, Donsol, Matnog and Sta. Magdalena, the beneficiaries toil as poultry raisers, fishermen, and farmers of rice, vegetable, and copra whose earnings are just enough for the basic needs of their families. Complementing their existing farming practice, poultry production was the decided project through consultation meetings with the DA-SAAD staff and was validated by the area and provincial coordinators.

Table 1: Farmers’ Association participants in Poultry Production and Product Development Training

Fourteen out of the 18 FCAs who participated in the training were newly established this year.

Poultry Production and Product Development training

SAAD Regional Program Management Support Office (RPMSO) Technical Staff for Livestock and Poultry, Gail Antioquia discussed the production guide on Ready-To-Lay (RTL) Chicken and proper duck raising where participants were taught on the fundamentals of poultry management such as proper housing, feeding management, biosecurity, and disease treatment and prevention.

Meanwhile, a cooking demo was conducted by RPMSO Researchers Honey Leah Cantoria and Jenny Delmiguez. Processing of various poultry-based products like chicken cordon bleu, chicken tocino, chicken tapa and salted egg was taught in order to upskill the participants on value-adding, which they can apply as additional products to generate extra income or can be helpful in providing readily available food for household consumption.

Pangpang Farmers’ Association member of Pilar, Elias Hagler, shared his insights on the conducted training, “Nang dahil sa training, nakaaram kami kang pag mantinar asin pag-asikaso ning mga manok. Naaraman mi ang mga dapat gibuhon na dapat suway ang may mga hilang sa wara tanganing dai mag-urulakitan. Nagpapasalamat po ako sa magayon na programa kang gobyerno dahil magayon na nakaukod muna kami bago kami matawanan ning mga manok.”

(Because of the training, we learned the proper maintenance of poultry production. We were taught proper isolation methods in case one of our chickens gets infected by viruses. I’m thankful for this great program of the government for the opportunity to have some knowledge first before receiving the chickens).

With the help of the Committee on Agriculture and the Municipal Agriculture Office, the selected FAs started receiving agricultural inputs for poultry production and enterprise development since April this year. All interventions are expected to be completed by the third quarter of FY 2022.

Seven (7) groups received the Chicken Production package with interventions worth Php 310,800.00 each which included Ready-To-Lay chickens, laminated sacks, chicken feed layer, cages, egg trays and weighing scale.

On the other hand,  eight (8) groups were granted with the Mallard Duck Production Package. The package will include interventions worth Php 666,255 per group, which includes incubators, mallard ducks, laminated sacks, duck feed layer, duck feed grower, egg trays and weighing scales.

Further, one (1) group received the Chicken Production and Enterprise Development package worth Php 297,800 which includes the above-mentioned interventions without the cages but with additional inputs for enterprise establishment such as various kitchen utensils, storage containers and packaging materials, PPEs, cooking stove (heavy duty), 3 tier stainless steamer, meat processor, meat grinder and other kitchenware.

Finally, two (2) groups were granted the same above-mentioned enterprise inputs worth Php 772,255 under the Duck Production and Enterprise Development package.

Looking forward, the attendees expressed that they would like to focus first on poultry production and to increase the amount of poultry products within their areas until they are ready to open an enterprise. ###

Writer: Pauline Trixia D. Borja, DA-SAAD Sorsogon Information Officer

Sources:
Gail P. Antioquia, DA-SAAD Region 5 Technical Staff
Mary Rose Detera, DA-SAAD Sorsogon Provincial Coordinator
Arnel Venus, DA-SAAD Matnog Area Coordinator
Aizel Grefalda, DA-SAAD Sta. Magdalena Area Coordinator
Ma. Ligaya Renegado, DA-SAAD Juban Area Coordinator
Allen Jao, DA-SAAD Magallanes Area Coordinator
Jonas Guanizo, DA-SAAD Pilar Area Coordinator
Mark Joven Barja, DA-SAAD Donsol Area Coordinator

Photos: DA–SAAD Program Sorsogon Staff